﴿ ۞ وَتَرَى ٱلشَّمْسَ إِذَا طَلَعَت تَّزَٰوَرُ عَن كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ ٱلْيَمِينِ وَإِذَا غَرَبَت تَّقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ ٱلشِّمَالِ وَهُمْ فِى فَجْوَةٍۢ مِّنْهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ ءَايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ مَن يَهْدِ ٱللَّهُ فَهُوَ ٱلْمُهْتَدِ ۖ وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُۥ وَلِيًّۭا مُّرْشِدًۭا ﴾

“And [for many a year] thou might have seen the sun, on its rising, incline away from their cave on the right, and, on its setting, turn aside from them on the left, while they lived on in that spacious chamber, [bearing witness to] this of God's messages: He whom God guides, he alone has found the right way; whereas for him whom He lets go astray thou canst never find any protector who would point out the right way.”

In the days when the Men of the Cave were propagating their faith, the struggle between them and their countrymen increased. During this period, probably in anticipation of the possible danger, they had selected a particular cave, which was spacious enough to accommodate seven men. Moreover, it seemed to have been north-south oriented so that the sun’s rays never entered it either in the morning or in the afternoon, with the result that no passer-by could detect that some human beings were living in it. If a man remains uncompromising in matters of truth and righteousness, even in the most difficult circumstances, and he turns to God with patience and gratitude, then God guides him and leads him along a path where his faith will remain secure and where, at the same time, his missionary efforts will not be adversely affected. This kind of divine help was fully available to the Men of the Cave in view of their special circumstances. Furthermore, God had chosen them for His special plan. The spiritual heights that they had attained had entitled them, in the eyes of God, to be seen as tangible evidence of life after death. The Men of the Cave sleeping for such a long period of time, and their awakening at the end of this period serves as a proof of life after death.